JUNCTION DAY TRAGEDY

RED OAK — Just a few minutes after leaving the Junction Days celebration, a 61-year-old Red Oak man was killed Saturday afternoon in a collision with a tractor.

Milton Lantz Jr., was driving a 2008 Vittacci Motorcycle when he collided with a 1961 John Deere tractor at the intersection of 2nd and E. Corning Streets, just a few blocks from Fountain Square.

Lantz was not wearing a helmet and died at the scene.

Cody Benjamin Carroll Johnson, 15, of Stanton, was driving the tractor, which had been part of the Junction Days parade a few hours earlier.

Contrary to preliminary Iowa State Patrol reports, Lantz was driving east on E. Corning while Johnson was westbound. The collision occurred when Johnson attempted to turn left onto 2nd street without yielding to the motorcycle.

An official with the Iowa State Patrol confirmed Monday morning that the preliminary report, which indicated both vehicles were westbound, was incorrect.

Jenny Green, who has lived at the intersection for six years, heard the impact and was the first person to attend to Lantz.

She said Johnson was apparently following another tractor that had already turned onto 2nd street.

“There had been tractors terrorizing through the neighborhood ever since the parade ended,” Green said in an exclusive interview with the Red Oak Express. “I just don’t understand. The parade ended a long time ago. Why were they just driving them through town?”

Green also said she has always been concerned about a potential accident in the intersection.

“We have been saying for a long time there is going to be a bad accident at this corner. I just hope this wakes people up. Corning is a busy, busy, street.”

No arrests were made at the scene, but an investigation into the accident continues, and charges are possible.